Question 1

What is the single biggest suggestion you would give to someone wanting to get into this career?

Jamie Allen · Accepted Answer

“Intern so you know what it feels like and what it looks like.”

Question 2

What’s the #1 mistake people make when trying to get into this career?

Jamie Allen · Accepted Answer

“This is coming from interviews I’ve had with people in the education department over the last ten years. Often times I’ll get somebody who is a Music Teacher in a school situation. Maybe they’re a very good Music Teacher, but that’s all their experience has been and often they’re burnt out from that.
“They want to get out of the classroom and do something else. That’s not what I’m looking for. First of all, because I’m not sure that’s the right reason to hire them and second of all, that’s just one side of the picture. If they come in with no experience with a professional performing arts organization, [it’s not helpful.]
“It doesn’t have to be an orchestra; it could be a venue. They need that kind of professional experience to really build on — not just the classroom [experience].”

Question 3

What is the question people should ask about this career but rarely do?

Jamie Allen · Accepted Answer

“I think it’s the first thing you asked which is, ‘What do you do?’ Sometimes people are confused and think I teach artists to play their instruments. Well, if they’re with orchestras they already know how to play their instruments really well.
“That [answer] also changes from orchestra to orchestra because, honestly, in each orchestra, the job of Education Director reflects that specific person. What I do really reflects my specific strengths. If I retired tomorrow and someone new came in, that would be difficult. They’d have to tweak things to go with their strengths. I can see the same thing with my colleagues across the country.”

Question 4

What is one thing I should have asked which I didn’t?

Jamie Allen · Accepted Answer

“I talked about building partnerships both within and outside the organization; let’s talk a little bit about what my learning curve was. When I first started here ten years ago I had very little corporate experience. My experience was all on the artistic and academic side and that was a real learning curve for me.
“I made a lot of mistakes, mostly with communication. One, in taking the initiative and starting conversations and two, knowing where to go with those conversations and having all the right people on the bus. I had a lot of autonomy the first year or so which could be good, but sometimes wasn’t, because then people didn’t know what I was doing. So I think communication is really key.”

Question 5

If you could describe in one word what makes you successful, what would it be?

Jamie Allen · Accepted Answer

“It’s being driven. It’s knowing what my ultimate goal is and being really creative and flexible in getting there because the landscape changes around us. [For example], there are different Conductors that come in and they have a different idea of how they want things to go or the political landscape in your community changes — so it’s being really flexible on what your ultimate objective is.”

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